


We Wish We Spoke Moon

by angeldescendant



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Ash melts under Eiji's gaze, Fluff, M/M, Slight homesick Eiji, Soft Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 11:54:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16974153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angeldescendant/pseuds/angeldescendant
Summary: Eiji teaches Ash a little Izumo-ben.





	We Wish We Spoke Moon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [meimeito](https://archiveofourown.org/users/meimeito/gifts).



> I can't stand the thought of Episode 23 later so here we go. I don’t have an exact timeline for this, so maybe an AU of sorts? Let's just pretend that Eiji ended up teaching Ash Japanese at an earlier time.

Ash flashed the most infuriating grin he can muster when Eiji gave the cheeky son of a bitch the grade he shouldn’t deserve in his Japanese class.

 

“That’s just the basics! Don’t get ahead of yourself!” the teacher fumed when Ash began prancing around the room, holding his 120/100 scored paper up high for all the ghosts haunting that penthouse to see.

 

“ _Mada Mada Dane_ with your English scores, _onii-chan_ ~” Ash made sure he would rub his impeccably-honed accent in Eiji’s face.

 

“Shush your mouth,” Eiji seethed as he looked at his middling 45, including the 15-point bonus. Just he wait, he’ll have his day.

 

“Which reminds me,” Ash then turned his head at a still reddened Eiji. “I’ve only noticed until now, but the way you speak is different from Ibe’s. Why is that?”

 

Eiji clicked his tongue. “That’s because I’m from Izumo, you dummy.”

 

“There. You said dummy different from what you taught me. Instead of ‘ _baka_ ’, it’s ‘ _dara’_.”

 

It annoyed Eiji at times how this pretentious American was quick at picking up things. “We use a different dialect in our place. It’s called Izumo-ben.”

 

Ash then quickly grabbed a chair and sits across from him. “Teach me then.”

 

Eiji waved it off. “You don’t need to learn it. You’re fine with the basics.”

 

“Ooh,” Ash teased, letting his head rest against the back of the chair, green eyes intently affixed at Eiji’s face. “Is Ei-chan scared that I’ll end up being better than him at his mother tongue?”

 

“Dream on,” Eiji rolled his eyes. “Fine, you know-it-all. I’ll teach you a little phrase.” He then whipped out extra paper and wrote the following below:

 

こーからも

そばに

おってごしないね

_くらで_

 

Ash stared at the words and then at Eiji. “No fair.”

 

Eiji smiled a genuinely self-satisfied smile. “I thought you’re fluent with the basics already.”

 

“Fuck you, I only know how to read. Off the bat, you’re already teaching me something difficult?”

 

“My, my, is our teenage wunderkind really unable to understand this itty bitty sentence?”

 

“Shut your trap, Eiji. I never heard you say this shit to Ibe.”

 

Eiji’s grin grew wider. “Do you want me to explain it to you, o pupil of mine? First, I want to hear the magic words~”

 

“Fuck you Eiji-“

 

“My, my, where did you learn those words? Try again, asshole.”

 

Ash did not like how quickly Eiji managed to pronounce all the syllables of the a-word perfectly. He should tell Kong and the rest to stop themselves from cursing in front of his baby _onii-chan._ He might have gotten a perfect score if the test involved every invective in the American English alphabet.

 

“Let’s begin by pronouncing everything,” Eiji said. “Repeat after me:

 

_Kō kara mo_

_soba ni_

_otegoshinai ne_

_kura de_

Did you get that?”

 

It took Ash two tries before he could nail down Eiji’s delivery. He did not want to admit it, but despite his familiarity with the traditional Japanese, Izumo-ben was a different beast altogether.

 

“Let’s start with こーからも,” Eiji said and Ash couldn’t stop himself from looking at his hands that did not fit his face. They looked too big and had callouses dotting his fingers. He thought of Izumo and how Eiji had called it the land of the gods. Agriculture must still be prevalent there. “Traditionally, it’s _kore kara._ ” He then noted down the characters. “What does it translate to again?”

 

“From now on,” Ash answered, rubbing his chin. At least that was the rough translation of it.

 

Eiji laughed. “I’m a really good teacher for you to remember then!”

 

“Better at teaching than learning anyway,” Ash shrugged and earned him a pinch from Eiji. “What? Don’t pat yourself in the back.”

 

“You can just admit that I taught you well,” Eiji stuck out his tongue. “Ok then, そばに is…?”

“Stay…” Ash said. Eiji’s eyes lit up as he praised his teaching skills again. Ash only looked on.

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing,” Ash quickly turned to the next line. “I think I’m at a loss for the next one.”

 

“Ah, おってごし means ‘don’t leave me behind, stay’ if you translate it in straightforward Izumo-ben,” Eiji nodded. “ないね is a negative term so if you put them together, it becomes ‘It’s fine if you don’t stay’.”

 

“Oh,” Ash looked at the remaining characters. “ _Kura de_ ’s living forever.”

 

“Uhuh,” Eiji nodded. “So if you put everything together, it becomes…?”

 

“Uhm, stay with me from now on, forever.” Ash looked once more at the words, and then at Eiji’s soft smile. Even in the dark, he was staggeringly beautiful. His pellucid eyes reflected more than pederasts and whores.

 

“Ok,” Eiji said. “I will.”

 

Ash felt his cheeks color as Eiji kept his gentle gaze fixed at his. "Uh, Eiji-"

  

He touches both of Ash’s hands. Kisses each knuckle as if uttering a humble prayer.

 

“This doesn’t look that much different from home,” Eiji then murmured as both of them look at the words again. They then covered themselves in the warm blanket of silence before retiring to their beds to sleep. No dreams were acted that night.

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to thank Mae for teaching me this little phrase. We miss you. Come back soon.


End file.
